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BURIAL VAULT Filed July 25, 1928 Patented Jan. 27, l93l TAES ATENT oFFIcE HARRY W. LORESCI-I, OF GI-IARA TOWNSHIP, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA 7 nonfat. VAULT Application filed July-25, 1928. Serial No. 235,236.

In modern practice, burial vaults are used, instead of the old wooden rough boxes to contain the casket in the grave The wooden rough boxes quickly decay,

permitting the raves to fall in, and furthermore they were not water-tight-a most important consideration.

Burial vaults are formed of concrete or other plastic material and have their lids 10 sealed in place. The concrete is frequently reinforcedwith metal.

However the concrete even when reinforced, tends to crack, either from the Weight of the settlingof-the earth or from other 5 causes, such as blastingin excavating nearby graves, so that water gains access to the casket.

Therefore, one of the objects which I have in view is the improvement in the structure of burial vaults so that they will remain permanently water-tight. v

For the accomplishment'of this purpose I embed in the plastic material of which the body of the vault is formed a metal or other waterproof b'oxwhose walls and bottom will prevent the entrance of water through cracks or breaks in the plastic materim. V

A similar but shallower and inverted box or pan is embedded. in the material of the lid, and I provide a new and improved seal for the lid which permanently prevents the entrance of water between the lid and the vault. 1 i

I provide a new and improved metal reinforcement of the burial vault.

Othernovel features of construction, and also of arrangement of parts .will appear from the following description. In the accompanying drawings wherein I 40 have illustrated a practical embodiment of the principles of my invention, Fig. 1 is a view partially in side elevation and partially in longitudinal section showing the burial vaultwith its lid in place.

2 is an enlarged detail in vertical section showing the sealed joint between the vault and its lid.

, Fig. 3 is a detail in section showing the attachment of the reinforcement to the metal boxorpan' f is embedded in the material of the lid.

within and without the latter,

Fig. 4 is a broken inverted plan view of the lid with the embedded parts shown in dotted lines. a l

Fig. 5is a perspective of the pan which Fig. 6 is a perspective of the box which is embedded in the material of the vault.

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showingamodification.

Referring to the drawings, the vault 1, is in the form of a rectangular container cast or otherwise formed of concrete or other suit able plastic material.

F or convenience I will use the term concrete to include all such suitable material. Embedded in the concrete of the vault is the metal box 2 which may be of sheet metal of rust-proof character. V

The box 2 may be pressed integrally or the metal may be properly cut and its ends and 7 sides bent up and united witha water-tight joint, as for instanceby soldering or welding.

The concrete of the walls'and bottom of the vault l'is reinforced by embedded metal both inside and outside of the box 2, and this reinforcement is preferably attached to the box 2 and'in such a manner as to be spaced from the latter to permit the concrete to flow into the spaces between the reinforcement and the box.

Thus I mayand preferably do employ an expanded metal reinforcement 3 which is provided at regular intervals with ribs 4 which may be arranged to rest against the inner and outer surfaces of the box 2 and thus span the body of the expanded metal 3 away from the surfaces of the box.

The ribs are preferably attached to the box, and this attachment may be by means of wires 5so-ldered or otherwise secured at their centers to'the box 2 and with their end portions bent about the ribs and twisted together as shown in Fig; 3. Or the ribs may be soldered or welded to the box as indicated at The expanded metal is continuous inits extentlover the entire surface of the box, both and also over the edges thereof, the sheets of expanded metal being overlapped and wired, as indi- Ila cated at 'Z' in Fig. 3, or otherwise connected together to make the reinforcein t continuous.

be flow of the who the rib the inrorceinent op so as to be posit: ,.-'u;:ace of the vault to p.- or the lid pan and rciniorcein 1 Fig.

In his. a he at the box and vault i tral edge of lid is provided al band 0 which depen' a. d telewith a met scopes downwardly over the vault, as illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and i'.

This hand 's supported and secured in place by the framework formed of chennz-zl irons 11 embedded in the material of th lid.

The structure of the band and it or; ing frame per se not a part of 131; l invention, but is more fully illustrated ano described in Letters Patent of the United States No. T95522 issued on July 25, K to John F. Loresch.

12 represents the inverted metal pan shallow box which cmbeddeo in the'conere-.ie of the lid 9 and completely surrounded the reinforcement of expanded metal 30 having ribs to whicl'i bear against and secured to the pan 12 in like manner r in case of the be 2 and the reinforcement 3 the vault 1.

The edges of the pan 1.! and the encompassing reinforcemen 30 protrude downwardly from the nnnterial of the lid into the channel 13 which is formed between the perimetral edge of the central portion 9 of the lid and the hand 10, thus forming a continuous metallic tongue. 4

The top edge of the vault is provided with relatively deep groove 1% into which said tongue depends. The groove st extends down within the box 2 of the vans.

The outer top edge of the vaultis also preferably rounded oi? as at 15.

in practice the vault is placed in the bottom of the open groove, the casket is lowcred into the The groove 1% filled with a plastic, waterproof cement, such as one having an ashaltum base and the lid is then lowered in place, the portion 9 of the lid fitting into the open top of the vault and the band 10 telescoping down over the outside of the b while the tongue formed by the protrusion of the pan 12 and the reinforcement 3a being forced down into the filling of the groove 14, and within the interior of the box 2.

Thus a water-tight seal is formed between the lid and the vault which will not be impaired by cracks in the concrete of either the vault or the lid.

The spacing of the reinforcement away from the surfaces of the metal box and lid and the securing of the reinforcement thereto aids in forming reinforced monolithic structures of great strength and permancnc In some cases it is customary to place the lid of the vault in the bottom of the grave and then the casket is placed thereon and the invei Lied vault is lowered down over th casket. in this case the air trapped in the interior of the vault acts as a seal to prevent the entrance of the water between the lid and the vault.

lit is evident that 1 11" present invention may be applied with great advantage to this type of vault.

What T desire to claim is 1. A lid for a burial vault composed of concrete and provided with a continuous groove to receive the upper edge of the vault and having embedded thereinan inverted waterproof pan whose lower edge protrudes into said groove which provides a continuous ton gue, and metallic reinforcement embed (led in the concrete and projecting therefrom around said tongue to cover the same.

2. A burial vault including a body having side and end walls provided with an upwardly facing groove for the reception of sealing material, a cover adapted to fit on said body and extending over said groove, and foraminous metallic reinforcing imbedded in said cover and having a reinforced flanged end extending downwardly from said cover adjacent the edges thereof to enter the groove in the body whereby the sealing material will key with the reinforcing to securely hold the cover and body together,

3. A burial vault including a body having side and end walls provided with an upwardly facing groove for the reception of scaling material, a cover adapted to fit on said body and extending over said groove, foraininous metallic reinforcing imbedded in said cover and extending downwardly from, said cover adjacent the edges thereof to enter the groove in the body whereby the sealing material will key with the reinforcing to securely hold the cover and body together, said downwardly extending portion of the forcing beingdoubled back upon itself and having its edge imbedded in the cover, and a metallic flange imbedded in the cover and extending downwardly between the doubled portion of the reinforcing to stiffen the latter.

Signed at Pittsburgh, Pa. this 20th day of July, 1928.

HARRY N. LORESCH. 

